The Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Change

The developmental paradigm, reading history sideways, and cross-cultural data have converged to exert a profound influence on social scientists and ordinary people. Through the use of these tools, social scientists of the 1700s and 1800s concluded that family patterns in northwest Europe had undergo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Demography 2001-11, Vol.38 (4), p.449-465
Main Author: Thornton, Arland
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conceptual frameworks
Cross-cultural analysis
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Crosscultural Analysis
Demographics
Demography
Developmental biology
Divorce
Economic development
Eighteenth Century
Ethnocentrism
Europe
Families
Family
Family - psychology
Family planning
Family Relations
Fertility
Gender relations
Historical perspectives
History
History, 18th Century
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Humans
Idealism
Intergenerational relationships
Living arrangements
Marriage
Nineteenth Century
Population studies
Presidential Address
Reading
Research Methodology
Social Change
Social Change - history
Social conditions & trends
Social Development
Social History
Social relations
Socioeconomic development
Socioeconomics
Studies
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Summary:The developmental paradigm, reading history sideways, and cross-cultural data have converged to exert a profound influence on social scientists and ordinary people. Through the use of these tools, social scientists of the 1700s and 1800s concluded that family patterns in northwest Europe had undergone many substantial changes before the early 1800s. These conclusions were accepted until the last several decades of the 1900s, when almost all were seriously challenged; many were declared to be myths. Further, the developmental paradigm, reading history sideways, and the conclusions of generations of social scientists created a package of ideas-developmental idealism-that subsequently became a powerful influence for family change in many parts of the world during the past two centuries. This developmental idealism has been a substantial force for changing living arrangements, marriage, divorce, gender relations, intergenerational relationships, and fertility.
ISSN:0070-3370
1533-7790
DOI:10.1353/dem.2001.0039